GAME #4 PREVIEW -- Bears Open NEFC Play on Parents' Weekend

ON THE AIR: The game will be aired live on WXLM-980 AM. There is both and audio and video stream available and those inks can be found at www.cgasports.com on the football schedule page.

THE SERIES: This is the first meeting between the two teams.

LAST WEEK: Junior Brady Macko rushed for three touchdowns and caught another while junior quarterback Nash Nance threw for 282 yards and threw a pair of touchdowns all in the first half as Hampden-Sydney beat Coast Guard 49-7 in a non-conference game.

The Tigers, who improved to 2-1 on the season, scored on six straight possessions in the first half and led 19-0 after the first quarter and 43-0 at halftime. Hampden-Sydney had 423 yards at halftime, 282 passing and 141 rushing and finished the game with 586 total yards, 276 on the ground and 310 in the air.

Coast Guard, which drops to 0-3 on the year, was held to just 80 yards of total offense and seven first downs. The Tigers defense held the Bears to negative ten yards rushing on 19 carries.

Nichols had the week off following a 44-7 loss to Western Connecticut.

GEORGE MOVES TOWARD THE TOP SPOT: Coast Guard head coach Bill George entered the 2013 season with 46 career wins as head coach at the Academy just two shy of John Merriman's 48 wins which are the most in program history. Merriman was the coach from (1930-1945) and the Gymnasium is named is his honor. Last season, George passed NFL Hall of Famer and former Director of Athletics and head football coach Otto Graham, who had 43 wins in his two stints as head coach (1959-'65 and 1974-'75). Coach George led the Bears to a pair of NEFC Bogan Division championships in 2006 and 2007.

BREAK 'EM UP: The New England Football Conference (NEFC) has a new look in the 2013 season as the 16-team, two division format from the past no longer exists. Eight teams left to form the MASCAC football conference while the eight remaining teams will make up the new NEFC. Those teams are Coast Guard and Maine Maritime from the old Bogan Division and Curry, Endicott, MIT, Nichols, Salve Regina and Western New England from the NEFC Boyd Division. There is no longer and NEFC Championship game as the winner of the regular season will earn the automatic berth to the NCAA Playoffs.

BEARS PICKED SIXTH IN NEFC: Coast Guard was picked sixth in the 2013 NEFC Preseason Coaches Poll. Endicott were picked first earning four of the eight first place votes and 59 of the possible 64 points. Salve Regina garnered the other three first place votes while MIT also received a first place vote.

A LOOK BACK ON THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF 1963 TEAM: In 1963 NFL Hall of Famer Otto Graham led the Coast Guard Bears to the only undefeated and untied regular season in school history and the team earned a berth in the Tangerine Bowl.

Each week, we will look back at a game in the historical season. This week, we look back at the fourth game of the season, a 7-0 win over previously unbeaten Amherst to celebrate Homecoming.

A 24-yard touchdown pass from Bill Peterman to Tom McCarthy with three minutes left in the second quarter were the only points of the game as the Bears won by seven points or less for the fourth straight time to open the season.

Amherst was twice inside the Bears 10-yard line, but came away empty both times. Once in the first quarter and again in the fourth quarter.

Coast Guard sealed the game with co-captain Bill Thompson's interception with 1:30 left in the game.

The Bears made a top ten appearance in the Lambert Cup Poll after the win over the New England power Lord Jeffs.

COACH TO CURE MD: The American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Coach To Cure MD seeks to raise awareness and money to fund research for Duchenne muscular dystrophy, the most prolific lethal genetic disorder of childhood.

During all college football games on Sept. 28th, thousands of AFCA members will be wearing Coach to Cure MD shoulder patches on the sidelines to help raise awareness of the program.

This week, the Coast Guard coaching staff will wear the shoulder patches to promote the fight against MD.

Since the AFCA launched this partnership in 2008, college football's backers have generously given roughly $1 million in cash and other donations. Those gifts have raised awareness of this great cause and helped fund critical research grants from ParentProject MD to university faculty at schools ranging from Florida to Missouri to UCLA, Ohio State and Penn, among others.

Football fans can donate to life-saving research by either going online at www.coachtocuremd.org or by texting the word CURE to 90999 on their mobile phones to give $5 on the next mobile phone bill.

SCOUTING COAST GUARD: The Bears celebrate Parents' Weekend and open up New England Football Conference (NEFC) play after playing three straight non-conference games to begin the 2013 season.

Coast Guard, which is last in the NEFC with 14.7 points per game and 199.3 yards per game (101.7 passing), has named freshman Derek Victory as the starting quarterback this week.

Victory saw his first collegiate action on Saturday when he completed 8 of 13 passes for 50 yards, he replaces junior Blake Thompson (23 of 62, 217 yards, 3 INT), who moves back to his natural position as a wide receiver.

Junior Jake Wawrzyniak leads the Bears ground attack with 50 carries for 146 yards and a pair of touchdowns while Thompson has 35 carries for 120 yards and a score.

Senior Nick Fredericksen leads the team with ten receptions for 61 yards while junior Collis Brown has eight catches for a team-high 178 yards. Brown now has 939 receiving yards in his career.

The Bears defense is allowing 32.3 points per game and 476.7 yards per game, 283.3 rushing and 193.3 passing.

Sophomore strong safety Joe Rizzardi and senior linebacker Nick Phillips had 33 tackles each to lead the Coast Guard defense while sophomore cornerback Eli Maurer leads the team with 3.5 tackles for loss.

Sophomore Tyler Henning is having another outstanding season as he has made all five extra points and is 3 of 4 on field goals. He also is averaging 34.6 yards per punt this season. Henning was a perfect 39 for 39 on PAT's last season while 6 of 11 field goals and averaging 32.8 yards per punt to earn NEFC All-Bogan division honors.

SCOUTING NICHOLS: The Bison, who opened the season with a thrilling 28-27 overtime win over Westfield State before losing to Western Connecticut 44-7, hit the road for the first time this season.

Sophomore Quillian Respass is the Nichols signal caller. He is 23 of 43 for 411 yards with four touchdowns and three interceptions on the season. His favorite target is senior wide receiver Dylan Rimsky, who leads the team with 16 receptions for 303 yards and three touchdowns.

Junior Felipe Njeim leads the Bison on the ground with 18 carries for 76 yards and a touchdown while Respass is second with 20 carries for 50 yards.

Nichols is averaging 17.5 points per game while allowing 35.5 in the first two games. The Bison are averaging 292.5 yards per game, they are last in the NEFC with just 76 rushing yards per game.

The Bison defense is allowing 369 yards per game, 207 on the ground and 162 in the air.

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